Saturday, August 20, 2011

ISKCON Krishna Lila Park is a grand-scale project to present and promote the culture and heritage of India in a compelling manner using state-of-the-art technology in a family edutainment format.
This will become yet another important cultural and religious tourism destination in Bangalore city.
In that sense, this is a tourism project of immense significance in Bangalore, and has all the characteristics and societal benefits as any other tourism project.Recognizing the immense tourism potential in this project, The Government of Karnataka has cleared this as a tourism project vide Government proceedings SLSWA meeting dated 19/01/2004 and 30/12/2004.

2) Being a temple why are you involved in tourism projects?

In India, today, it is a well known fact that cultural tourism and religious tourism are the most important tourism sectors. And hence there is a convergence of our interests to preserve and popularize culture and heritage of India and the government’s interest in developing tourism projects which invigorates local economy and creates direct and indirect employment. This project is estimated to create 4000 direct and indirect jobs.

3) What is the objective of this project?

Formerly societies and cultures flourished as independent systems. Hence, in India, we have had distinct cultures of different states or regions manifested in the form of language, music, literature, culinary habits, dress, social customs, etc. But today, we are in the era of globalization. It has changed the nature of cultures and cultural exchange. Dominant world powers have begun to shape our societies and create a homogenized world culture. It has begun to influence the way people eat, dress, travel and practically very sphere of human activity. Anthropologists warn that this could minimize or wipe out local cultures and traditions. They call this process cultural imperialism. They also call this coco-colonization. We are concerned that this globalization and urbanization does not minimize or wipe out our ancient Indian culture. In the next few decades, India is poised to witness unprecedented levels of economic growth and urbanization. In the flood of all these developments, we do not want India’s heritage and culture to be eroded. The purpose of Krishna Lila Park is to present, preserve and promote the cultural heritage of India as described in the ancient Indian classics, to the contemporary society, in an interesting and captivating presentation. We want to impress on the younger generation about the glorious pastimes of our legendary heroes like Krishna, Rama and Hanuman. Today, our children’s minds are obsessed with Superman, Spiderman and such other characters and legends coming from the West. We want to introduce the great characters of our Indian epics and instill in the minds of our children the deep morality they represent. This is an unprecedented and historical project being attempted for the first time in our country.

4) How do you plan to achieve this?

In today’s society, people, especially children, are exposed to world class entertainment through animation, multi-million dollar Hollywood productions like the Harry Potter films, internet content, Imax films and so on. We have to present Indian classical content also in a manner that matches or exceeds these standards of presentation. We plan to set up the Krishna Lila Park as a family edutainment centre – that will transport the guests to the time and place of the different episodes from the Mahabharata, Bhagavata and Ramayana. The narrative strategy we use is known as technology assisted multi-sensory immersive and experiential story telling. This is the kind of communication strategy that the worlds best Theme Parks like Disney World, EPCOT and Universal Studios use. Five thousand years ago in Vrindavana, King Indra threatened the Vrajavasis to inundate their village because he was angered with their refusal to perform the yearly puja to him. We recreate this scene with torrential rains, blasts of thunder and lightening, and the consequent flooding of the Yamuna, and give you a real life experience of this dramatic episode. Just when the situation looks hopeless you can actually experience a surge of relief and gratitude to Krishna as He lifts Govardhan Hill and protects His devotees. The Govardhan Lila attraction will give such a realistic experience to the Krishna Lila Park visitors.

5) What is the cost estimate of this project?

The cost estimate is Rs. 350 crores.

6) How do you plan to raise this large amount?

Two of our trusts, India Heritage Foundation & ISKCON Charities have acquired about 42½ acres of land near the rocky hillock allotted by the Government of Karnataka. We plan to develop this 42½ acres of land in to a Indian Heritage Township, and the surpluses generated will be used for setting up the Krishna Lila Park. (See sketch below). The Township will provide unique opportunities for it’s residents due to the proximity of a temple and theme park humming with religious and cultural festivals and activities.

7) What kind of “development” do you wish to take up?

We plan to take up mostly residential development and some commercial development as well.

8) Being a charitable and religious organization, why do you have to take up such real estate projects?

To develop a trust property and generate income to further the objects of the trust is a standard and age-old practice followed by religious and charitable trusts in our country, and in our city. This is not something new. There are hundreds of examples of this kind all over Bangalore city.